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OVERVIEW
Yugoslav President
Vojislav Kostunica’s 24 June 2002 sacking of Yugoslav Army (VJ) Chief of the
General Staff Nebojsa Pavkovic was necessary, welcome, and long overdue. The EU,
U.S., and NATO acclaimed the move as an effort to assert civilian control over
the military, and Kostunica indeed deserves credit for removing a significant
obstacle to the country’s reintegration with Europe. Nonetheless, the action
was probably more the result of the ongoing power struggle between Kostunica and
Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic than a genuine effort to bring the military under
civilian control or dismantle the extra-constitutional parallel command
structures that the post-Milosevic leadership of the country has created within
the VJ.
The dramatic action will
deserve to be interpreted as a genuine step in the right direction only if
Kostunica follows up with concerted efforts to remove other compromised
individuals and introduce democratic civilian control over the military. Until
then, Pavkovic’s charges – since supported by two other generals – that
the president ordered VJ troops to attack the Serbian Republic government as
part of his power struggle with Djindjic will continue to raise questions about
the nature of politics and governance inside a state that has not yet shaken off
the dark legacy of the 1990s.
The “Pavkovic Affair” highlights the lack of democratic parliamentary control over
Yugoslavia’s military and brings into public view the questionable chain of
command Kostunica’s cabinet has used with respect to the VJ. It also
highlights similar structures Djindjic has created within the Interior Ministry.
The manner in which Kostunica removed Pavkovic was legally controversial, and is
undergoing judicial and parliamentary scrutiny. The assertion that Kostunica
ordered the army to attack his political rival, Djindjic, has set the stage for
a constitutional and legal challenge that could weaken the president
domestically during the crucial run-up to Serbian presidential elections and may
even lead to his impeachment for violations of the constitution.
Belgrade/Brussels, 15 July 2002